HAS ANYONE USED ZILLOW.COM AND DO YOU FEEL THERE COMPS. ARE FAIR?

I don't know about your area, but the zillow values and comps are pulled from our tax data. Needless to say our tax data is always off. It is a good tool to get a ballpark figure, but it is not a substitute for a good CMA. I have found that the e-neighborhoods program is a much better tool in most areas. Of course, it is not free. Hope that helps.

I think zillow is a neat tool for showing an area and the side by side display is nice but the values are based on the tax roll-not reliable at all.

It's not that tax rolls aren't reliable,it's just they aren't for use in evaluating properties.County and city assessors go by different value %.Some counties tax on 50% of value,some 75,some 100 etc.

I can't believe zillow is basing there date on that.

I'm not an agent yet, but based on Zillow my condo, which I paid about 100,000 ten months ago, is worth 140,000 now. I wish it was true. But obviously it isn't.

It's funny because my condo association news letter had the Headline "Value of our Condo's going up!!" Check Zillow.com for more info.

In my area zillow uses actual comps. It is very good for geeting a rough estimate of value. Zillow says it is within 10% + or - and I have found that to be so in the majority of the cases.

My last 3 transactions

Zillow - $174,775 - actual sale price $189,900
Zillow - $237,629 - actual sale price $235,000
Zillow - $229,003 - actual sale price $242,000

Zillow does not take into consideration things like a pool, condidition of the property, etc.

you can actually check the accuracy of zillow from their site. For my area, they are within 10% of the price about 54% of the time - which in my opinion is a waste of time. 10% is a big price difference, and nearly 1/2 are more than 10%

I think its a pretty cool program to play around with, the interface is cool. But, I have never put much faith in the numbers. they know nothing of upgrades, the condition of the property, etc.

But, I do like seeing my house is more valuable than all my neighbors!!

I found it to be quite a bit off for two reasons:

1. Uses too wide of a square footage spread.

2. More importantly, it has no way of determining how much the Seller contributed to Buyer's closing costs. In some neigborhoods, particularly where entry level homes reside, closing costs allowances can be substantial and common and that is not conveyed in Zillow. The true value of the home is minus those allowances. Another value-add for Realtors vs. automated tools.

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John A. Brassner, MBA, RealtorŪ
Coldwell Banker Premier Realty
8290 W. Sahara Ave. #100, Las Vegas, NV 89117
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Cell Phone 702-808-9816
Out of State: 1-800-314-7050
Fax: 702-995-0488
Email: john@john4realty.com
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I don't use Zillow since they don't have data for Canada, but I'm impressed with their attempts at making their estimates more accurate. I read somewhere that homeowners will be able to provide more information (e.g. proximity to schools) about their homes and suggest comparables within their area.

As soon as someone says "Zillow" I know I am...

1. Either dealing with an amateur or
2. They are a pro trying to BS me.

When I called him on it here is one investors reply "Well I use Zillow to show buyers they are getting a good deal or sellers they are getting a good price, which ever way I can use it."